Every day at 8:30am MST, we here at Sonlight have the opportunity to get together in small groups and pray. It isn't mandatory, but it is encouraged.
We pray for each other--like the headache I had this morning which seems to have finally decided to move on.
We pray for families who submit prayer requests or I notice out on the blogosphere.
And we pray for various people groups around the world. We use the Global Prayer Digest as a tool to help us learn about and pray for others. You can download the .pdfs for free if you want to try it out with your family.
Praying for others is a great way to help yourself grow. Even if you aren't religious at all, gaining a broader world perspective through prayer digests is a great thing. It helps us think beyond ourselves and consider the issues plaguing our earth. Sonlight carries a nice "coffee table" type book--though it's not hardbound--that offers an introduction to many unevangelized countries and peoples of the world. It's another tool you could use to help gain a more global perspective.
What fascinates me--but I'm rather odd--is that some people are disgusted by the idea of praying for unreached people groups. I can understand that praying for another's salvation can seem horribly self-righteous if you do not see a need for man's redemption. If you fit into this category, please take the positives from this post: Learn about others and think about what you can do to make the world a better place.
But what if you go beyond merely feeling insulted for these people, and, instead, you think I'm rather a fool for praying? What if you've come to the conclusion that God is imaginary? There's a site dedicated to this very idea. I encourage everyone--especially you praying Christians out there--to at least give this guy two minutes and twenty seconds of your time and consider the first of his 10 questions for Christians.
I find it interesting, and I hope you do as well. ...but I've already admitted to being a little strange in this regard <smile>.
How would you respond?
~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Expectant Father
P.S. If you have a few seconds to see something cool, check out the newly redesigned MathTacular.com. It's sweet!
